Name: John GarganoRing Name(s): Cedrick Von Haussen, Joey Gray, Johnny GarganoFrom: Cleveland, OhioDate of Birth: August 14, 1987Working For: WWE NXT, AIW, etcMini Biography: Johnny Gargano's infatuation with wrestling skyrocketed at the age of eight-years-old, when he first stepped inside of a wrestling ring. Eight years later, the Ohio native would enroll in Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling's school, and since then the independent sensation has yet to quit. Making his professional wrestling debut in 2005, Johnny Gargano has since then torn through the independent wrestling world - making his name prominent in companies such as Dragon Gate USA and Chikara. Now he has made his way to WWE NXT, regularly teaming with good friend Tommaso Ciampa as well as being a competitor in the first ever Cruiserweight Classic. There is only one place for him - the top. Johnny Gargano is "All Heart" and has a long history to prove it.

In a matter of days, Johnny Gargano came up short of capturing the NXT Tag Team Titles and was eliminated from the Cruiserweight Classic. How is Johnny Wrestling dealing with these setbacks?

#TeamBlameRichSwann

If you've ever wanted to learn how to make a child cry, head on over to our partner site (Chuck-Taylor.org) for all the late-breaking news on the sexy Kentucky Gentleman. There, you can catch a glimpse of one of Johnny's most prominent tag team partners in their impressive gallery while keeping up-to-date on Kentucky's finest export!

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Have you ever met Johnny Gargano? At a signing, on the street, a show? Nabbed a selfie with him? Maybe taken a photo of him at a show you've attended? Well, we've got a gallery that those photos would look plenty impressive in! If you'd like to donate candids, email at us at jgarganocom@outlook.com. Any photos we receive will be posted with full credit to you. Alternatively, find a photo in our gallery that we don't have you credited for? Email us, we'll remedy the situation by attaching the correct credit or removing it entirely. 100% up to you.

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Well, would you look at that? Johnny will be back at DREAMWAVE Wrestling in LaSalle in the very near future! And by near future, we mean Saturday, March 1st!

What will he be doing on the show? He’s entered into the Misfortune Tag Team Lethal Lottery! What is that, you may ask? Thanks to DREAMWAVE’s site, we know!

Partners may end up being family, friends, or enemies, but those partners must co-exist to win their tag match and advance on to the Misfortune Battle Royal at the end of the night. The winner of the battle royal takes home the Misfortune trophy and in a first for this season, earns any match they want at Retaliation on 5/3. ANY match.

That’s against any person. Any title. Any stipulation. Misfortune means more than ever before.

Whoa. High stakes on March 1st. But, we believe Johnny will come out the victor. I mean, look at him. How could he not?

After a chaotic night at PWG alongside some of the best, Johnny Gargano headed to Denny’s like a champion before he set off to LaSalle, Illinois for DREAMWAVE Wrestling. Going from an intense fatal four-way at the ‘dub, Johnny locked up in single’s action tonight against Nic Brubaker!

The match had the fans on edge, as every Gargano classic does, and the two battled into a draw! After a top rope Overdriver from Brubaker, a cradle pin was secured, and Johnny and Nic both had their shoulders on the mat. Nic was reportedly furious, and Johnny seemed as if he was going to give the fans everything they wanted with five more minutes, and most importantly, a definitive winner!

…But instead, he said “forget it!” and took off to the back. I’m sure he realized he just left the oven on. C’mon now.

This weekend in the ever so lovely Reseda, California for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Johnny took on three of the best wrestlers in world for a title shot at a later date. The three other men involved? Chris Hero, Drake Younger and Kyle O’Reilly, of course!

But did our hero pin another Hero to gain the title shot? Or maybe he pinned the PMA master himself, Drake Younger? Or possibly even the Battle of Los Angeles 2013 winner Kyle O’Reilly? We’ve got some good & bad news.. the good is that he probably did pin one of these men at some point, but for the bad news? He didn’t end up with the winning pin :(.

Instead, it was Drake Younger who won the match with the Drake’s Landing on Kyle O’Reilly.

We’re sure that Johnny will soon bounce back and maybe, if Drake beats Adam Cole.. well, neither of us here would say no to seeing that match, we’re just sayin’!

This isn’t the first time the two have faced, and with their prior matches being amazing, we can expect that this one to be even better. They are touted as two of the best in professional wrestling today, and for good reason. But who came out on top? Well, it just so happens that Johnny won the bout, making Elgin tap out. Gettin’ that PWG win back!

It’s been a match that’s happened in numerous other promotions, but finally ended with an explosion at Wrestling Cares in Gardena tonight! Both Adam Cole and Johnny have been crawling up the walls of the company since they were thrown into the tournament back in June. Johnny was forced to come over the likes of Chase Stevens, Drake Younger, Adam Pearce, and Papadon!

The finals consisted of him and one of the best in independent wrestling today, and like always, neither man let the audience down. Johnny came out with the victory, and quite the nice and shiny ring — something that we’re sure will go well with his Open the Freedom Gate championship, right?! Congratulations to Gargano. You know we both think you deserve all the good and shiny things in the world here at johnny-gargano.com!

Thanks to PWInsider, we have some detailed results beneath the read more! Enjoy, and send your congratulations to the good ol’ Son of the Land of the Cleve!

Match Six: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano: Finals of the Race for the Ring Tournament 20 minute time limit.Good fundamental chain wrestling over the first 4 minutes which was highlighted by a great series of counters as each guy tried to hit a few of their signature kicks and strikes. The first big strike is hit by Gargano as he hits a great kick to Cole with both men on the mat, he follows with double knees to the corner, but as he tries to take Cole across the ring he gets caught with the Florida Keys out of nowhere for the fall. Cole leads 1-0 with 14:20 left. Cole grabs a chinlock and immediately finds the HD screen closest to him so he can track the time. Now that he has the lead he’s going to lean on Gargano and make him fight his way up trying to burn clock. Gargano does fight back with sudden strikes, hits a running snake eyes drilling Cole into the middle buckle and following up with a kick to the head on the grounded Cole to tie the match with 12 minutes remaining. In an absolutely great sequence Gargano is on the turnbuckles looking for a big move, Cole sweeps him off the turnbuckles into a backbreaker and then drills him with a brainbuster over his knee to take a 2-1 lead with 10:30 left. Cole now with a headscissors to wear down Gargano and burn clock while forcing his opponent to carry his weight. Gargano fights his way up, hits two strikes, and shoots Cole to the other side, Cole grabs the ropes and takes a powder. Gargano chases him because he’s behind, Cole dives back into the ring and tries to get the jump on Gargano. Another good sequence ends with Cole going for the figure four, Gargano countering into the small package and each man reversing small packages until Gargano ties it up at 2-2 with 8 minutes to go. Another series of great counters as each man has the other’s moves scouted very well ends with Cole finally getting the figure four leglock and a tapout victory for a 3-2 lead with 6:44 to go. Cole with the lead now powders out again forcing Gargano to chase him and burn more clock. Gargano chases him back in, Cole tries to charge him but is drilled with Gargano’s slingshot spear through the ropes for a near fall. Another great sequence of scouted counters has Gargano cover up to block a superkick, Cole drilling a kick to the leg, both guys reversing moves until Gargano hits the full nelson spinout slam for the fall that ties it up at 3-3 with 3:31 left. Cole misses and axe handle off the top and tweaks his knee on the way down. Gargano smells blood and starts to relentlessly attack the leg. Cole keeps him at bay with a kick to the face with his good leg and gets Gargano back in the figure four. Gargano turns it over and Cole is forced to tap to the reversal because of his injured leg. LOVE IT. 4-3 Gargano with 1:25 left. Les Thatcher checks with Cole to see if he can continue. Cole says yes, Gargano charges for the killing blow but Cole counters. Cole goes for a suplex but Gargano drills his knee to the head counter. Cole goes for it again and as Gargano tries to counter with his knee Cole cinches his leg and hits a Fisherman Buster to tie it at 4-4 with 30 seconds left. Time expires and we have OT. Cole hits an Enzuigiri and a Shining Wizard for a near fall to start OT. Another great counter sequence before Gargano drills his full nelson spinout slam for a near fall. Crowd thought that was the finish. “This is awesome!” chants. Cole hits a superkick to the face and a superkick to the back of the head. He hits the Florida Keys but can’t hold the pinning combo due to his injured leg. Cole shakily goes to the top, Gargano counters, locks in the Rings of Saturn, Cole escapes, Gargano locks it in again as time runs out. Les Thatcher announces that this is the finals and we’re going until we have a winner. Double OT! Both guys on their knees throwing bombs ala Tully and Magnum in the I Quit match. Both guys to their feet exhausted trying to slug it out. Gargano goes for his spear through the ropes and gets killed with a Superkick. Cole slams him down for a near fall and the crowd loses it. This is fantastic. Cole sets Gargano for a Samoan Drop off the top Gargano fights his way out with a sunset powerbomb hits the double knees in the corner. Hits the running Snake Eyes into the far corner, hits a second running Snake Eyes into the near cornerand it is another near fall. Rings of Saturn back in and Cole gets the ropes. This is a big time championship main event match. Both guys are on the apron slugging it out again. Cole hits a superkick and DDTs Gargano on the apron. Both men are down and out outside the ring. Cole in at 6. Gargano barely beats the count. Cole hits him with the Canadian Destroyer as Gargano struggles back to his feet. Near fall! Cole is besieged with apoplexy! “Wrestling Cares” chant from the fans. Cole hits Gargano with several headbutts. Cole screams “Johnny!” and drills Gargano with a superkick, Gargano immediately fires back with his own superkick. Both guys stagger and steady themselves and hit stereo superkicks on each other. Cole crumbles to the mat and Gargano crumbles on top of him for the fall. Incredible match. Get this DVD when it comes out. Watch this match. These guys laid it all on the line.

Winner: Johnny Gargano

Les Thatcher is in the ring and puts over both guys saying “If the business is in the hands of young men like you it will be just fine.” Cole thanks Gargano for being the best he’s ever been in the ring with. Gargano picks up the champagne for the celebration and says “I’m Straight Edge so I can’t drink this, but if I was going to drink this I would raise a glass to Adam Cole.” Gargano puts Cole over as a great opponent, colleague, and friend. He then presents the victory champagne to Adam Cole. Cole pops the champagne and starts to spray it in the ring, Gargano runs so he doesn’t accidentally drink any. Les presents Gargano with the ring. I can see it gleaming from here. First class ceremony. This was a fantastic 9 month tournament. I really enjoyed every show and I wish we’d see more true alternatives like this in the wrestling business. On every level this was an artistic success. All the crew should be proud of themselves. I’d love for another one of these to start up tomorrow. Gargano puts over the fans, points out a kid with a “Yes!” sign in the first row and we get our first “YES! YES! YES!” chant of the tournament. I can’t recommend this enough. GET THE DAMN DVD.

…But only after a war took place in the ring tonight at EVOLVE 27! Set to face Uhaa Nation, Johnny certainly had a challenge set before him — most knowing of the remarkable rise and return of Uhaa Nation several months ago. The two men battled from post to post, and they certainly made the main event something to remember. The detailed results are below the cut, with many thanks to PWInsider!

Uhaa used his power early and Gargano showed his fear of Uhaa. Gargano did a great job reacting to Uhaa showing no effect on the kick to the head. Gargano then tries for a punch and chop series and once he realizes it is not working, he slows down and backs away. Uhaa gives Gargano a taste of his own medicine with a lawn dart into the stage.

Uhaa decides to go for the crazy move of the night trying to suplex Gargano over the railing to the ring but Gargano is able to counter and he power bombs Uhaa onto the apron. Gargano, being the benevolent man that he is, he tells the referee to count faster so Uhaa can be counted out faster and have medical attention provided. However, Uhaa does what so many have done over the last three days and returns to the ring at 19.

Gargano hit a nice spear from the apron to stop Uhaa, but Gargano was not able to take advantage of things because if you are going to spear someone the size of Uhaa, you are going to feel it too. Gargano was able to find a child in the crowd to dedicate a military press slam at some point in the match.

If have any doubts about the athleticism of Uhaa Nation, he hits a frog splash on Gargano from ¾ of the way across the ring. Gargano and Uhaa hit a nice sequence of moves with super kicks, German suplexes, a Death Valley Driver, and standing moonsault. Gargano might not want to spit in Uhaa’s face again.

Uhaa hit a great power bomb sequence after catching Gargano on a spear from the apron. Uhaa hit a deadlift Doctor Bomb followed by a regular power bomb, a Buckle Bomb, and a sit out power bomb for a near fall. Gargano did a good job of rolling through when Uhaa tried to escape the Gargano Escape. Gargano goes for a cross body and Uhaa catches him on the apron and turns it into a Death Valley Driver on the apron.

I didn’t like the need for the ref bump in the main event after having the referee get knocked out in the Bucks/Bravados brawl.

I liked that Gargano turned overly evil after the ref went down by going for the bad knee. Uhaa did a good job of selling the knee on the drop kick and tombstone piledriver because of the impact to the knee. Gargano did a good job countering the press slam attempt into the Gargano Escape. Then when Uhaa wouldn’t tap, Gargano added the STF to the Gargano Escape to get the victory.

Johnny Gargano cut a good promo at the end of the show. I loved how he joined in on the bandwagon of picking on a certain group of fans. Then he vows to beat them up if they confront him after the match and he dedicated it to a young fan in the crowd.

The ending of the show with Ricochet trying to get his title match against the winner of the Gargano/Strong match was good. Gargano should be the one who dictates things because he is the champion.

Johnny was great signaling to someone in the back to help him when Rich Swann came out to help Ricochet. Then it turns out to be Jon Davis. Maybe Gargano forgot about what happened in Orlando. Jon explains that he was helping out Johnny in the past, but it is over.

Since he has no one to help him, Gargano decides to do the right thing and sign the contract for Ricochet’s title match. Johnny tries to attack Ricochet with the pen and Swann hits Gargano with a super kick.